Class time is of two
types: lectures and
workshops. ALL are essential for the successful completion of the
module, and ALL are compulsory.

I have designed the
class sessions to help you to do well. This module is about acquiring a
different approach to your sources, and you may well find you need
practice at this. The class sessions will provide that practice.

While class time is essential, you will still do most of your work
by yourself. You should expect to do 8 or 9 hours of private study per
hour spent in class. You should aim for some of this to be group study
with an effective work-group (you will learn more this way, and learn
it faster and better), but the rest involves you sitting down and reading as
much as you can.

Lectures on this module will not provide The Answers, but
rather the
questions. It is your job to work out your own
answers.

You will need the lectures to provide you with a framework of
ideas with which to make sense of your own reading and group study. I
will provide background information, discuss crucial concepts, and
suggest ways of thinking about topics.

Lectures will, naturally, be tied closely to workshop topics - you will
need the grounding from the lectures in
order to make sense of the workshops, and vice versa.

Workshops

These are intended to 1) help you assimilate and think about
ideas (see Lectures)
and 2) give you a chance to exchange ideas and try out new ways of
thinking in a supportive environment. The overall aim of the module is
for you to develop the habit of thinking not just about what happened
and why, but about how our picture of the past is changed by the
approaches we take. This can take some practice, which the workshops
should provide.

Before each workshop you must complete a workshop assignment.
This will involve a set reading and tasks based upon that reading, all
of which will be detailed in handouts distributed a session or two in
advance of each workshop. There will be three in quick succession near
the beginning of the module, after which they are approximately
fortnightly.

Please
note that nobody will be admitted to a workshop without their completed
assignment.

Small-group
work

I
strongly
recommend that you prepare for your workshops by pooling your resources
with your colleagues and learning from each other (which is much more
effective – and much more interesting – than simply
trying to reproduce
everything the lecturer says). You will find it most convenient if you
also sit together in class, particularly for workshops.

Working with a group will enable you to learn more with less
individual effort. If four of you each read different things and share
what you have learned, you have quadrupled your learning with no extra
work (although perhaps more coffee). You will also practise important
teamworking skills.